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Sunday, January 13, 2013

Church and faith.

Sometimes when I go to church, it makes me feel guilty. I know it shouldn't be that way, and I know it's self-inflicted. Still, it's there. I
absolutely love my new church and everyone I've met there: don't let
that be mistaken. Actually, I'm sure they're the ones who have inspired
me to fix this problem. The remedy is relatively obvious: I need to live
a more faithful life every day, in all aspects of my life. The doing,
however, is the hard part. But I guess it all comes around to faith: the
more you give, the more you get.

Credit: Kimberly S. Meyer

I'm not sure church and faith have any sort of a chicken-and-egg relationship, but what others think about that idea has always fascinated me. It probably doesn't matter
what others think about it, sort of like the "God doesn't care what I
wear" mindset of choosing what is appropriate church dress, but it's
interesting to me nonetheless.

For now, off to church. Maybe I'll learn more about this elusive balance there today?

2 comments:

The awesome thing about God is that he doesn't actually ask for anything in return for salvation except faith. There's no such thing as being "good enough" for God. He already wants you and wants to fill your broken, battered heart. Acceptance is the seed of faith, but then as you start listening to his word and praying, that faith grows. You find yourself listening less to "common sense" and "worldly wisdom" and more to his promises. You make decisions you know are the ones he wants you to make (though your friends might not understand), and your faith buoys you up when you face the consequences. And then you get the rewards: inner peace, greater love, a sense of purpose, an absence of fear and self-consciousness--because you know that he has always provided for your needs, and always will. He'll never ask you for something you can't give, but you'll want to completely give yourself and everything you love over to Him. You've glimpsed a portion of his plan, and you know that you could never plan anything as beautiful, complex or good as he has. And you know there is nothing to fear because if you suffer for His plan, you feel privileged that you had a part to play in bringing it about. And at the end of your life, you'll know you fought the good fight. You finished the race. You'll spend eternity in unity with the purest love there is.

I couldn't agree more. Grace is seemingly so simple and yet one of those concepts I'm not sure we'll ever completely understand: it's that incredible. Even though we don't have to do anything, that fact alone makes me want to do better, even though there's no real necessity.

Also, I have to say, you and Micah have been a testament to the sheer joy you can realize through faith, love, and grace. May you be blessed with all the best things in life and continue to build each other up by way of a marriage grounded in and obviously strengthened by faith. <3